Find 'Art Interruptions' in Beacon Hill and the Central WaterfrontArtworks on street and park infrastructure, furniture and trees bring surprise and humor,
On view through Sept. 20

SEATTLE — Temporary artworks eliciting moments of surprise, beauty and humor are dotted through Beacon Hill and the Central Waterfront via the Art Interruptions series produced by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. The artworks, intended to last for approximately six weeks, appear on city sidewalks and in parks offering a brief interruption in viewers' days. Twelve artists have created temporary installations, most of which are on view through Sept. 20, though dates vary depending on the type of artwork. Projects range from a light-hearted photo cutout to traditional rangoli and flower mandalas made by local Indian artists in the Beacon Hill neighborhood and faux discarded banana peels to patterned handrails on the Waterfront. The Art Interruptions program was launched in 2012 with a dozen projects spread between Greenwood Avenue North, and the Central Waterfront. The 2013 series complements a number of temporary projects produced by the City's art department this summer including a visual art installation and interactive camera obscura project at Westlake Park and the 'Alaskan Way Viaduct Observation and Demolition Unit' by Dane Youngren, which closes this weekend.

Administered in partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Seattle Parks and Recreation, Art Interruptions is funded with SDOT 1% for Art funds and administered by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

Beacon Hill ProjectsBeginning at Daejeon Park, heading south on 18th Avenue South, and ending at 12th Avenue South and Lucille Street.

Elizabeth GahanElizabeth Gahan's site-specific installation Climbing Crystals uses recycled corrugated plastic political signs to create an unexpected synthetic growth interrupting the serene Maplewood Park and surrounding residential neighborhood. Signs from the 2012 election season are re-envisioned and reconstructed into a cluster of hollow 3D, crystal-like forms that appear to emerge from the ground and climb the tree trunk.

Brian Gerich and Ian HortonBrian Gerich and Ian Horton's Blind Drift both contrasts and mimics environmental elements in the hillside at 18th Avenue South and South Walker Street, and creates a gradient effect across the pedestrian path of the site. The artists worked closely with Steven Chavez as a consultant on the project.

Julia HaackJulia Haack'sArboreal Amulets is a grouping of sculptural constructions attached to a tree cluster at Daejeon Park, adjacent to the bike path and Sturgus Way South and just northwest of the Korean pavilion. The artwork is made from reclaimed lumber and latex paint and employs geometric, colorful patterns with cascading shapes.

Joanne Lepore and Breanne GearheartJoanne Lepore and Breanne Gearheart'sPortals uses stripped bicycle rims as way-finding and point-of-interest markers along the Beacon Hill Greenway. The rims are attached to trees, existing signage and in sculptural formations in right-of-way areas. These place markers not only indicate to cyclists that they are on the right path, but draw attention to the peculiarities of the environs. The artists chose the sites that were shifts in the bike path, opportunities to explore the Greenway and the Beacon Hill environs, or to demonstrate creative uses of rights-of-way and public land with a gardening/sustainability focus. A map with details, context, and links can be found online at http://tenaciousinstinct.com/projects/art-interruptions/.

Tour: The artists will also lead a bike tour of the Greenway route and all Art Interruptions artwork installations on the path, 4 to 6 p.m., Aug. 18. Bicyclists should meet at the I-90 bike trail to start the tour, which will end in Georgetown. Bring helmets and water.

Chris Papa
Take advantage of a light-hearted photo opportunity with Chris Papa's Free Pile, a life-size, carnival photo cut-out. Equal parts painting and sculpture, the wood assembly draws attention to the “junk” we put out on our sidewalk that other people then proudly claim as their own. The photo cut-out is at the corner of Beacon Avenue South and Hanford Street, just outside Hello Bicycle.

Annie Penta
Annie Penta'sVisual Blessings: Women's Art of India employs several local Indian rangoli artists to create South Indian Tamil Nadu chalk designs in various right-of-way locations twice weekly during early morning hours. Artists will also create intermittent athapoovidal (elaborate ground decorations) mandalas made from local flowers, plants and organic materials.

Rangoli chalk installation schedule:

Thursday, Aug. 8: southwest corner of 18th Avenue South and South State Street.

Sunday, Aug. 11: 18th Avenue South and South Plum Street.

Thursday, Aug. 15: Four corners of intersection at 18th Avenue South and South Hill Street.

Sunday, Aug. 18: Four corners of intersection at 18th Avenue South and South College Street, intersection of 18th Avenue South and South Bayview Street.

Thursday, Aug. 22: Southwest corner of 18th Avenue South and South Waite Street.

Sunday, Aug. 25: NE corner of 18th Avenue South and South McClellan Street and if time allows, at the intersection of 18th Avenue South and South Lander Street.

Thursday, Aug. 29: In collaboration with artist Raji Raman, at the intersection of Beacon Avenue South and South Hanford Street.

Sunday, Sept. 1: In collaboration with artist Raji Raman, at the intersection of 18th Avenue South and South Stevens Street.

Thursday, Sept. 5: At the intersection of South Hinds Street and Lafayette Avenue South. If time allows, at South Horton and Lafayette Avenue South.

Sunday, Sept. 8: On north and south side of Spokane Street at Lafayette Avenue South.

Thursday, Sept. 12: In collaboration with artist Rita Biswas, at the intersection of South Hanford Street and Lafayette Avenue South.

Sunday, Sept. 18: In collaboration with artist Rita Biswas at the intersection of 16th Avenue South and South Dakota Street.

Flower mandala installation

Saturday, Aug. 10: On the north-facing hill of Jefferson Park at Lafayette Avenue South and Spokane Street.

Saturday, Aug. 24: In collaboration with artist Anantha Ahluwalia, on the southeast hill of Jefferson Park at 16th Avenue South and South Spokane Street. If it is windy, artists will relocate to intersection of Lafayette Avenue South and Spokane Street.

Saturday, Sept. 7: In collaboration with artist Anita Bhatt, on the north side of Jefferson Park at 17th Avenue South and Lafayette Avenue South. If it is windy, artists will relocate to at Lafayette Avenue South and Spokane Street.

Hollis Wong-Wear
Hollis Wong-Wear'sNeighborhood Boombox features recordings by Beacon Hill musicians, poets and performing artists of various disciplines that have been curated by Wong-Wear. Inspired visually by the boombox carried by Radio Raheem in the film Do the Right Thing, the presentation and placement of this installation will occur at several locations where local businesses will act as stewards of the mobile installation. The boombox will be outside during normal business hours for the hosting establishments. The first site for the boombox will be at The Station Café through Aug. 18. It will move to El Quetzal on Aug. 19. Recordings will be on cassette tapes as a playful throwback to a virtually obsolete technology. The music will be archived as several volumes in .mp3 format and can be accessed online after the project is complete. Follow the Office of Arts & Culture on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeattleArts to learn more about the boombox whereabouts.

Christian FrenchChristian French'sSightings is a series of photographs chronicling the travels of an old weather-beaten hubcap that looks like a UFO (or is it a UFO that looks like a hubcap?). Presented at the spot where each photograph was taken (Waterfront Park and Pier 62/63), the photographs echo scenic views or commentary on the landscape. Viewers have an opportunity to look back in time, seeing both the landscape in front of them as well as a vision of something now past, in this exercise in the overlay of humor and memory.

Jesse LinkJesse Link'sVertical Ascension isa free-standing sculpturecomprised of four, large rectangular boxes stacked one on top of the other, reaching eight feet high. Each side has a painting on it depicting a sperm whale, a colossal squid, tall trees and a large wave raising a ship into the air. The sculpture will be at the base of the Pike Street Hillclimb.

Tim MarsdenTim Marsden's approach to art is to engage the public and create an awareness of our surroundings. In Clutter, he's created everyday objects (i.e. unwanted newspapers, discarded banana peels, bricks and pallets) in a stylized fashion made from wood, metal, bricks and mixed media. Marsden's art is placed in inconspicuous sites provoking double-takes and laughs from passers-by. Locations include the bike path on Alaskan Way and crossing the road at Pike Street and Union Ave.

Michiko TanakaMichiko Tanaka'sYellow is a series of posters and postcards with photographs, text and graphic symbols found in unexpected places. The materials include inspirational posters with common scientific theories (energy and mass are equivalent and transmutable), her Grandmother's sayings (you always worry about the wrong things), and five-by-seven-inch post cards (choice > good choice > bad choice > no regrets). Artworks are scattered under the Alaskan Viaduct, on the Marion Street Terminal walkway, in Waterfront Park and on a variety of traffic signal boxes.

Sam TroutSam Troutenjoys instigating the surprise of street art experiences. He will construct the installation Welcome...See you later using masking and vinyl tape in a geometric pattern along the handrail on the Marion Street Ferry Terminal Walkway (Marion Street between Alaskan Way and First Avenue). Trout chose blue and white colors to carry the nautical theme, and will employ assistants to learn from the art-making process.

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